Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 13 Comments on Ten Most Popular Posts of 2016 on CNX Software and Some Stats

Ten Most Popular Posts of 2016 on CNX Software and Some Stats

The last day of the year is a good time to look back at what the year brought us, and I have to say it has been a fun and interesting year on CNX Software. The TV boxes news cycle has been dominated by Amlogic products, but most products have now switched to 64-bit ARM SoC, with 4K and HDMI 2.0 support, and price have kept going down, so you can now get a 4K TV box for as low as $20, although many people will prefer spending a bit more for extra memory and support. Intel based Bay Trail & Cherry Trail mini PCs have continued to be released with Windows, and in some cases Ubuntu, but the excitement seems to have died off a bit, maybe with the expectation of upcoming Apollo Lake mini PCs that should be more powerful. The year have been especially fruitful in the […]

Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 11 Comments on Allwinner V3s Dual Camera SoC Comes with 64MB DRAM

Allwinner V3s Dual Camera SoC Comes with 64MB DRAM

Most SoCs have a very limited amount of internal SDRAM just enough to load the bootROM code, but a few integrated a few MB of RAM on-chip such as Renesas RZ/A1H with 10MB on-chip DRAM, in order to reduce costs for some applications that may not require external RAM. Allwinner V3s, designed for dual camera solutions, appeared to be such an SoC with 64MB (512Mbit) on-chip DDR2 RAM, but the block diagram seems to imply it is a System-in-Package (SiP) instead. Nevertheless you still get a single chip with an ARM Cortex A7 processor, two ISPs, a video engine, 64MB RAM, and more. Allwinner V3s main features & specifications: CPU – ARM Cortex-A7 @ up to 1.2 GHz Memory – Integrated 64MB DDR2 DRAM Storage I/F – SD 2.0, eMMC 4.41, SPI NAND flash, SPI NOR flash Audio Codec – 92dB audio codec supporting 2x ADC channels and 2x DAC […]

ArmSoM RK3588 AIModule7 NVIDIA Jetson Nano-compatible SOM
Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 5 Comments on ESP32-WROVER-KIT Devkit Supports Espressif ESP32 Modules, Includes a 3.2″ LCD Display

ESP32-WROVER-KIT Devkit Supports Espressif ESP32 Modules, Includes a 3.2″ LCD Display

Yesterday Olimex wrote a blog post informing us that ESP32-CoreBoard was back in stock, one the many ESP32 boards launched late this year, but still hard to get. The company also mentioned they’d have limited quantity of the new ESP32-WROVER with JTAG and LCD display together with the picture below. ESP32 is quite more powerful than ESP8266 so it makes sense to have an ESP32 development kit with an LCD display. A quick DuckDuckGo search led me to ESP-WROVER-KIT Getting Started Guide, where we can find more details including the overall specifications: Compatible with ESP-WROOM-32 and ESP32-WROVER modules based on ESP32 dual core Tensilica L108 processor clocked at up to 240 MHz with WiFi and Bluetooth LE connectivity Storage – Micro SD slot Display – 3.2″ LCD display connected via SPI USB – 1x micro USB port Expansion 8-pin UART header 6-pin SPI header 48-pin header for I/Os and camera […]

Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 25 Comments on ARM based Acer Chromebook R13 is Now up for Sale for $349 and up with Chrome OS or Windows 10

ARM based Acer Chromebook R13 is Now up for Sale for $349 and up with Chrome OS or Windows 10

Acer Chromebook R13 was unveiled in September as one of the first 64-bit ARM Chromebook. Based on Mediatek MT8173C quad core Cortex A72/A53 processor with 4GB RAM, the “Chromebook” now ships in three variants running either Chrome OS as expected, but also Windows 10 Home. All three models share the same specifications, except for storage and operating system options: SoC – Mediatek M8173C quad core processor with 2x ARM Cortex A72 cores @ up to 2.1 GHz, 2x ARM Cortex A53 cores, and a PowerVR GX6250 GPU System Memory – 4GB LPDDR3 RAM Storage CB5-312T-K8Z9 / K6TF – 32 GB eMMC flash + micro SD slot CB5-312T-K0YQ- 64GB eMMC flash + micro SD slot Display – 13.3″ touchscreen IPS LED display; 1920×1080 resolution; 10-point touch; 360-degree hinge design Audio – Integrated microphone, dual built-in speakers, microphone and headphone jacks Video Output – HDMI Camera – HD webcam (1280×720 resolution) with […]

Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 1 Comment on Samsung Introduces IoT-Ready POWERbot VR7000 Robot Vacuum Cleaner Compatible with Amazon Echo

Samsung Introduces IoT-Ready POWERbot VR7000 Robot Vacuum Cleaner Compatible with Amazon Echo

2017 is the year where the future starts. You’ll be wandering in your automated home or office where lights and heating system are fully handled by a gateway taking into account sensors values, and equipped with a CO2 level controlled ventilation systems, your eyes constantly looking at your phone, wearing neckband speakers likely connected to your Amazon Echo to let you know when it’s time to get up, eat, go to work, brush your teeth, and get back to bed again. All your life will be taken care of on your behalf by the Internet of Things, relieving you of the stress of taking routine daily decisions… Luckily, you’ll still be have an illusion of control thanks to your “IoT-ready” Samsung POWERbot VR7000 vacuum cleaner that can be controlled with your voice via that Echo thing, giving your life a purpose. Samsung Electronics’ latest POWERbot vacuum cleaner will be unveiled […]

Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments on LG TONE Wireless Bluetooth Speakers & Earbuds Get Charged with a Neckband

LG TONE Wireless Bluetooth Speakers & Earbuds Get Charged with a Neckband

Battery powered Bluetooth speakers are very common, and Bluetooth earbuds even more, but both are normally designed for different use cases. Last year ZAGG decided to bring both into a single product that you wear around your neck: Flex Arc Wireless Bluetooth earbuds + speakers now selling for about $56. The obvious advantage is that it includes larger battery than you can fit in earbuds and most Bluetooth headsets. ZAGG will soon be getting some competition as LG has designed two Bluetooth audio products leveraging your neck with LG TONE Studio (HBS-W120) equipped with a Hi-Fi DAC, 4 speakers, and two earbuds, and LG TONE Free (HBS-F110) with 2 “true wireless” earbuds that can be storage and charged in their neckband. The latter can also vibrate for incoming calls and text messages. An extra charging cradle is also provided for use cases when the neckband might not be convenient. LG […]

Rockchip RK3568, RK3588 and Intel x86 SBCs and SoMs in 2025
Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 5 Comments on 433/868/915 MHz LoRa Modules Are Now Selling for $6 and Up

433/868/915 MHz LoRa Modules Are Now Selling for $6 and Up

Market forecasts for the Internet of Things promise billions of connected device in the years to come, but this won’t happen when LPWAN  connector sensors cost $50 or more, so prices will have to come down. I’ve been told that one company is working on a WiFi + LoRa module that’s going to sell for $5 to $6 sometimes in 2017, but in the meantime, it’s possible to get some LoRa modules for less than $10, albeit limited to 433 MHz frequency not the more common 868 MHz (EU) and 915 MHz (US), thanks to products such as AI-Thinker Ra-02 module. Ra-02 specifications: Chipset – Semtech SX1278 low power long range transceiver Radio 433MHz frequency (420 to 450 MHz range) +20dBm – 10mW constant RF output vs. V supply; up to 300 kbps bitrate Supports FSK, GFSK, MSK, GMSK, LoRa and OOK Modulation Mode 127dB RSSI wave range. I/Os – […]

Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 11 Comments on RetrOrangePi 3.0 Retro Gaming & Media Center Firmware Released for Orange Pi H3 Boards and Beelink X2 TV Box

RetrOrangePi 3.0 Retro Gaming & Media Center Firmware Released for Orange Pi H3 Boards and Beelink X2 TV Box

RetrOrangePi is a Linux distribution based on armbian transforming Allwinner H3 boards – mostly Orange Pi boards, but also Banana Pi M2+ and NanoPi boards – into entertainment centers to play retro games, and watch/listen media files (videos/music) using Kodi. If you don’t have a development board, or would prefer a complete solution with casing and power supply, Beelink X2 TV box is also supported. The developers had been recently working on rectifying some GPL issues, and they have released RetrOrangePi 3.0 images right before Christmas. RetrOrangePi 3.0 changelog and key features: Full Armbian 5.23 Jessie Desktop version with kernel 3.4.113 (backdoors fixed) Slim version 1st release (less than 2 GB) coming soon OpenELEC (Kodi Jarvis 16.1) with CEC support by Jernej Škrabec RetroPie-Setup version 4.1 New Kodi Krypton beta6 version New emulationstation-ROPI branch forked from jacobfk20 with gridview, on screen keyboard with easy wifi config and storage check with […]

Boardcon CM3588 Rockchip RK3588 System-on-Module designed for AI and IoT applications